Compressors

RockerGuy

RockerGuy

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So I just bought an air compressor for tools and know nothing about maintaining them or setting it up.

If you have any tips, it would be appreciated.

Questions I presently have:

-Are oil-less compressors better than the one that uses oil?
-I did not get any accessories with the compressor, do I need an inline shut-off valve, a regulator; and an oiler attached to it?

cheers
 
It all depends on what you're planning to do with it.
Oil-less are fine for home use. They tend to be smaller and sometimes quite noisy. Also, no problem if you lay it on its side for transport.

Your compressor might have come with a regulator, but probably not a filter/dryer or oiler. For most home applications you can get by without the filter/dryer and adding a few drops of oil to the inlet of the tool before using it.
 
VFR.CBR said:
It all depends on what you're planning to do with it.
Oil-less are fine for home use. They tend to be smaller and sometimes quite noisy. Also, no problem if you lay it on its side for transport.

Your compressor might have come with a regulator, but probably not a filter/dryer or oiler. For most home applications you can get by without the filter/dryer and adding a few drops of oil to the inlet of the tool before using it.
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I am just using it to power my tools for DIY around the garage at home.

Are oil-less better motors?
 
did you but it new , or used.

if its new, there should have been some paper in there, sometimes its found in a plastic bag.
if you look closely at this paper, you'll notice thats theres lots of words on it. look for the word " INSTRUCTIONS "

or more importantly look in the section called " HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR COMPRESSOR "

this section is filled with valuable information.

if you bought this equipment used, and do not have this booklet, disregard the earlier suggestion and find the model number of your compressor, and google it, find its manual, dowload it and print it

;)
 
braveheart said:
did you but it new , or used.

if its new, there should have been some paper in there, sometimes its found in a plastic bag.
if you look closely at this paper, you'll notice thats theres lots of words on it. look for the word " INSTRUCTIONS "

or more importantly look in the section called " HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR COMPRESSOR "

this section is filled with valuable information.

if you bought this equipment used, and do not have this booklet, disregard the earlier suggestion and find the model number of your compressor, and google it, find its manual, dowload it and print it

;)
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Yetti, this magical book of "instructions" give recommendations for the accesories. I want to know how important they are before I buy them. :cool:
 
Rockerguy, what size and kind of compressor did you buy?
The small $ 60 -100 ones that come up on sale at Canadian tire or Princess auto are really only good for putting air in tires.( they run out of air very quickly and you have to stop and wait several minutes for pressure to build up again)
The bigger ones that have 2-5 hp motors and single/ dual tanks that are on a cart are big enough to power most air tools.
And then theres the biggest units that sit in a corner of your shop that will provide unlimited amounts of air.
If you plan on doing a lot of spray painting then a filter and air drier is a good idea.
If it just for regular air tools eg.. impact wrench air saw, nail guns then no need for filters.
 
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Oil-less are also preferred if you're going to do any carburetor work (like cleaning/rebuilding, etc).
 
macrider said:
Rockerguy, what size and kind of compressor did you buy?
The small $ 60 -100 ones that come up on sale at Canadian tire or Princess auto are really only good for putting air in tires.( they run out of air very quickly and you have to stop and wait several minutes for pressure to build up again)
The bigger ones that have 2-5 hp motors and single/ dual tanks that are on a cart are big enough to power most air tools.
And then theres the biggest units that sit in a corner of your shop that will provide unlimited amounts of air.
If you plan on doing a lot of spray painting then a filter and air drier is a good idea.
If it just for regular air tools eg.. impact wrench air saw, nail guns then no need for filters.
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I bought one with a 2hp motor which uses oil. I have to break it in with oil too, quite surprised. Its also 8gals; 125psi. Bought it at Harbor freight

I;m gonna be using it for impact wrenches to break stubborn nuts loose
 
Don't waste your money on the "1001 piece air-tool set" that goes on sale for around $100 at Crappy Tire. It's all useless garbage chinese quality crap. Buy some decent accessories that you'll actually use and you're good to go.
 
f1mauro said:
Don't waste your money on the "1001 piece air-tool set" that goes on sale for around $100 at Crappy Tire. It's all useless garbage chinese quality crap. Buy some decent accessories that you'll actually use and you're good to go.
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Snagged an air ratchet at HF for $25 :shock:

50lb/ft @ 90psi
 
the important data is CFM... if your compressor can produce 10cfm at 90psi,, then you know you can buy a device rated to fit.. so.. a ratchet at 4cfm,90psi, would be ok.. a blast booth that uses 14cfm at 100psi can still be used,, but it won't keep up, you will have to have lots of coffee / smoke breaks to get the job done.
and then if you need 4cfm, at 30psi for a primer gun,, or 7 cfm for a paint gun.. less than 5cfm is good to inflate tires, 7 to 10 cfm is pretty good for home.. usually takes 2hp.. then a larger 5hp ,14 and over will let you run most 2 man auto shops including a 0.125" sand blaster.. and tools like grinders, drills, sanders use a fair bit of air.. probably need about 20cfm ... just a few of my guesses .. the Hp and the CFM don't have to match... as it is cheaper to sell a 5cfm head on a 2hp motor.. but the 2hp motor might be able to drive a 10cfm head.. so my 2hp 14cfm 30gal compressor,, might not compare to your 2hp compressor..
drain the tank to keep moist air out of the lines, often if using it in humid weather.. a drop of oil into ratchets and impact to keep them working ,,, water doesn't really hurt them,,
no oil in a spray gun, and water in the lines will cause poor paint quality,, same with sand blasting,,so it depends on the job
 
I just realized this one only produces 4.5 SCFM @ 90psi :(
 
4.5scfm will still do lots of jobs, its sustained cubic feet per minute.
Now the downside, there are a couple ways to rate hp on a motor, the chinese are known for liberal ratings. You wont spray a car with it but you could certainly spray a bike or other small project.
They ship the oil compressors without oil so they dont leak in transit (upside down boxes) and recommend a run in without any load, ie; leave the tank drain open and run to get any seating issues out of the way. Then drain oil and refill, use compressor oil not motor oil , it's different.

If your primary purpose is breaking loose stubborn bolts, wait for CTC to have an electric impact on sale (usually $49.00) and buy that, it will produce more impact consistently and doesnt loose power like a small compressor driven tool will when pressure drops.

dont use an inline oiler, they are for garages that never spray paint. Remember once the oil mist is into your hoses trace amount come out for ever, usually onto the last coat of whatever your painting. Two drops of oil into a tool is lots, over oiling is bad too.

if you store it in the garage, it may be slow to spin up to full rpm when really cold, the oil gets thick.

Also remember the 90lbs is rated at the compressor head, not the end of a 50ft hose.

its an ok tool and will do lots of jobs, the biggest issues with "offshore" compressors are the aluminum pumps wear quickly, the chinese electric motors sometimes have brush issues and the pressure on/off switches are prone to getting clogged with crap and sticking. As an around the small shop tool its fine, they only become a problem when people buy a $200 compressor and try and run it 8hrs a day, 5 days a week.
 
I have a Campbell Hausfield oil-less 1.7 hp compressor with a 32 gallon tank, which I've had for years for occasional use around here. The compressor sounds like it's going to throw a rod. But it has always sounded like it was going to throw a rod from day one, and it keeps working.

If you are going to be painting (at all) then oil-less is the only way to go. Drip a few drops of oil into the inlet of the air tool before you use it, this avoids getting any oil into the lines. But since you already bought an oil bath compressor, too late for that. Still, dripping oil into each tool before you use it will work fine.

You don't normally need a regulator. Air tools are designed to run on any pressure that the compressor will put out. If it has a switch that cuts off at 100 psi and comes back on at 80, that's plenty good enough for what you want to do. Paint guns normally want a lower pressure.

This compressor will not quite keep up to my die grinder. It will keep the die grinder going, but the pressure gradually drops off. A 30 second break every couple of minutes (which normally happens anyway) is enough for the compressor to catch up. It's not a problem. This is the advantage of having a big tank.

A shutoff valve is a good thing to have - particularly if you have a big tank. Otherwise, the tank will slowly leak down. You can buy an ordinary ball shutoff valve anywhere. This will let the compressor hold pressure in its tank so you don't always have to start the compressor if you have a small job to do with it, just use the pressure stored in the tank.

The oil bath compressors (if properly designed) ought to last longer than the oilless type. The big 50 year old slow-running beasts that you've no doubt seen and heard are all oiled compressors with cast iron cylinders. Those things practically last forever.
 
One other thing; the dryer. Good to have for industrial use. Good to have if you are painting a lot. For occasional home use, you don't need it.

I paint with mine now and again - no dryer. I just run the compressor to fill the tank to the desired pressure and let it sit for a few minutes to let it cool off and any moisture that wants to settle out, do so. Then use the stored air in the tank to do the painting. Never had any water trouble. But, I only do small painting jobs. If you're going to be painting a car, you don't want to do it that way.
 
I got a 5hp 240V Cambell Hausfeld with a 60 gallon tank thats bolted to the corner of my garage. It's nice but does take up some space but the good news is I have not run out of air while using it ever and it also doesn't run all the time due to the size of the tank.
 
oiless are loud! I've got a 28 gal Husky thats on sale for 199 picked it up for 100 cuz of a broken wheel ($5 fix). I also have a 1976 Cambell Housfeld 18 gal oil compressor. Things whisper quiet.
 
crankcall said:
dont use an inline oiler, they are for garages that never spray paint. Remember once the oil mist is into your hoses trace amount come out for ever, usually onto the last coat of whatever your painting. Two drops of oil into a tool is lots, over oiling is bad too.

if you store it in the garage, it may be slow to spin up to full rpm when really cold, the oil gets thick.
.
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Brian P said:
You don't normally need a regulator. Air tools are designed to run on any pressure that the compressor will put out. If it has a switch that cuts off at 100 psi and comes back on at 80, that's plenty good enough for what you want to do. Paint guns normally want a lower pressure.

.
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Spoke to a guy at Princess Auto, nicest guy ever. Told me I don't need all that crap and to save my hard earn money. He took his time to explain everything to me with great enthusiasm. Luckily he gave me all that advice, he told me you don't need anything, just run it.

I bought some sockets there and he threw in an adapter for free. Just awesome!

braveheart said:
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/husky-8-gallon-oil-lubricated-air-compressor/951082

for 100 bucks, you cant go wrong
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If I had known earlier, I won't have get it in the US
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